Colorado State University
Natural Resources Management & Environmental Sciences
Warner College of Natural Resources
The department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship in the Warner College of Natural Resources at Colorado State University offers bachelor degree programs in Forestry, Rangeland Ecology and Natural Resource Management. The general Forestry Degree Program is SAF accredited and provides students the opportunity to specialize in 7 concentration areas including a concentration in Forest Fire Science. The Bachelor of Science in Forestry with a concentration in Forest Fire Science consists of 120 credit hours.
Students in the Forest fire Science concentration are required to take a rigorous schedule of classes that include core university courses such as calculus, chemistry and plant biology, forest management classes such as forest stand management, watershed management and timber management, policy and economic classes such as NR policy and sustainability, Natural resource history and policy, Economics of Forest Environment. They are also to take a spectrum of classes focused forest fire science including fire ecology, fire economics, fire management and fire behavior.
In addition to classroom work, all students in the forest fire science concentration are required to complete 7 credits of an intensive measurements class at Pingre Park during the summer between their sophomore and junior years and to complete at least 200 hours of professional work experience before graduation. To help students meet professional work experience requirements, CSU employs a full time experiential learning coordinator and has developed two internship programs; one with the Colorado State Forest Service and another with The Nature Conservancy Fire Use Module located in Loveland Colorado.
In addition to the 7 credits of measurements taken over the summer and the professional work experience, students gain additional field experience during scheduled laboratory times and Saturday field trips during semester-based classes. The balance of class work, field work and professional experience required for completion of the forest fire science concentration provides students with a well-rounded education and technical skills required giving them the foundation to grow and develop from an academic setting to positions of leadership in the professional workforce.
